Devices, Systems and Methods for Determining Suggested Action Initiation Times for Interactions

ABSTRACT

This application provides for determining a suggested action initiation time for an interaction with an interacting party. Some aspects comprise: determining an interaction settlement due date; querying an interaction database storing historical interaction records to determine if there is one or more of the historical interaction records related by one or more factors to the interacting party; retrieving, from the interaction database (where there is one or more historical interaction record(s) related to the interacting party), historical interaction data; determining from the retrieved historical interaction data a predicted processing time for the interaction; and determining, based on the interaction settlement due date and the predicted processing time, the suggested action initiation time. The suggested action initiation time comprises a time by which an action for settling the interaction with the interacting party is suggested to be initiated to effect settlement of the interaction by the interaction settlement due date.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/402,529 filed on Sep. 30, 2016, the entire contentsof which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The following relates generally to methods, systems and devices fordetermining suggested action initiation times for interactions. Morespecifically, the following relates to methods, systems and devices fordetermining suggested action initiation times for interactions conductedover networks based on historical interaction data, for settlinginteractions by interaction settlement due dates.

BACKGROUND

Interactions between parties at times have associated dates by whichsettlement must be effected. For example, it may be necessary tocomplete or effect transfer of digital application documents to aninteracting party (e.g., a job application form being digitallytransmitted to a company) by a particular due date to avoid a penalty(such as the application not being considered for the job). In someinstances, a digital act to effect settlement, such as the digitaltransmission of application documents, may require a certain amount ofprocessing time before settlement with an interacting party (e.g.,receipt of application documents by a potential employer) is effected.Where an action to initiate settlement takes place on a settlement duedate, settlement may not actually be effected until sometime after thesettlement due date, in which case a penalty associated with latesettlement may be incurred.

SUMMARY

In an aspect of the present application there is provided a computingdevice for determining a suggested action initiation time for aninteraction conducted over a network. The computing device comprises: amemory storing computer-executable instructions; a communication modulefor communication with an interaction database and one or moreinteracting parties via the network, the interaction database storinghistorical interaction record(s) associated with historicalinteractions; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and thecommunication module. The instructions when executed by the at least oneprocessor cause the at least one processor to: determine an interactionsettlement due date for an interaction with one of the interactingparties; query, over the network, the interaction database to determineif a number of the historical interaction records related by one or morefactors to the interacting party equals or exceeds one historicalinteraction record, and where the number of related historicalinteraction records equals or exceeds the one historical interactionrecord: retrieve from the interaction database historical interactiondata from the related historical interaction record(s); determine fromthe retrieved historical interaction data a predicted processing timefor the interaction with the interacting party; and determine, based onthe interaction settlement due date and the predicted processing time,the suggested action initiation time. The suggested action initiationtime comprises a time by which an action for settling the interactionwith the interacting party is suggested to be initiated to effectsettlement of the interaction by the interaction settlement due date.

In another aspect of the present application there is provided anon-transitory computer-readable medium for determining a suggestedaction initiation time for an interaction conducted over a network. Thecomputer-readable medium comprises computer-executable instructions for:determining an interaction settlement due date for an interaction withan interacting party; querying, over the network, an interactiondatabase storing historical interaction record(s) associated withhistorical interactions, to determine if a number of the historicalinteraction records related by one or more factors to the interactingparty equals or exceeds one historical interaction record, and where thenumber of related historical interaction records equals or exceeds theone historical interaction record, the computer-executable instructionsfurther for: retrieving from the interaction database historicalinteraction data from the related historical interaction record(s);determining from the retrieved historical interaction data a predictedprocessing time for the interaction with the interacting party; anddetermining, based on the interaction settlement due date and thepredicted processing time, the suggested action initiation time. Thesuggested action initiation time comprises a time by which an action forsettling the interaction with the interacting party is suggested to beinitiated to effect settlement of the interaction by the interactionsettlement due date.

In yet another aspect of the present application there is provided amethod for determining a suggested action initiation time for aninteraction conducted over a network by a computing device. Thecomputing device comprises at least one processor coupled to a memoryand a communication module. The method comprises: determining aninteraction settlement due date for an interaction with an interactingparty; querying, over the network, an interaction database storinghistorical interaction records associated with historical interactions,to determine if a number of the historical interaction records relatedby one or more factors to the interacting party equals or exceeds onehistorical interaction record, and where the number of relatedhistorical interaction records equals or exceeds the one historicalinteraction record, the method further comprises: retrieving from theinteraction database historical interaction data from the relatedhistorical interaction record(s); determining from the retrievedhistorical interaction data a predicted processing time for theinteraction with the interacting party; and determining, based on theinteraction settlement due date and the predicted processing time, thesuggested action initiation time. The suggested action initiation timecomprises a time by which an action for settling the interaction withthe interacting party is suggested to be initiated to effect settlementof the interaction by the interaction settlement due date.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the application will now be described by way of example onlywith reference to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of an exemplary aspect of a systemdescribed herein;

FIG. 2 depicts a schematic diagram of an exemplary aspect of a computingdevice described herein;

FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram of an exemplary aspect ofcomputer-executable instructions described herein;

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram of another exemplary aspect ofcomputer-executable instructions described herein;

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram of another exemplary aspect ofcomputer-executable instructions described herein;

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram of another exemplary aspect ofcomputer-executable instructions described herein;

FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram of another exemplary aspect ofcomputer-executable instructions described herein; and

FIG. 8 depicts a flow diagram of another exemplary aspect ofcomputer-executable instructions described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated amongthe figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Inaddition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide athorough understanding of the exemplary aspects of the presentapplication described herein. However, it will be understood by those ofordinary skill in the art that the exemplary aspects described hereinmay be practiced without these specific details. In other instances,well-known methods, procedures and components have not been described indetail so as not to obscure the exemplary aspects described herein.Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope ofthe exemplary aspects described herein. Any systems, method steps,devices, media, components, parts of components, and the like describedin this application, including in the description and claims of thisapplication, in the singular, are to be interpreted as also including adescription of such systems, method steps, devices, media, components,parts of components, and the like in the plural, and vice versa.Further, the person of skill in the art will appreciate that there aredelays inherent to any form of communication, including wired orwireless digital communication, including over a digital network, and assuch, as used herein, the term “real-time” includes real-time andsubstantially real-time communication.

The present description generally relates to the determination ofsuggested action initiation times for digital interactions conductedover digital networks, based on historical interaction data analyzed todetermine predicted processing times, so as to effect interactionsettlements by the settlement due dates. An interaction may include, forexample, the sending and receiving of digital data over a network, suchas the Internet, between two interacting parties (in this case, asending party and a receiving party). For example, it may be necessaryto complete or effect transfer of digital application documents to agovernment entity (e.g., a passport application form) by a particulardue date to avoid a penalty (e.g., not receiving a passport in time forpreplanned out-of-country travel). The penalty may be imposed by one orthe other of the interacting parties, based on input from both of theinteracting parties, or established by some other entity or means. Forexample, in the case of a passport application transmission over theInternet, the deadline for sending the application (or the settlementdue date) to the government entity may be imposed by the sending party,based on an application processing time (e.g., 10 business days)communicated on the government entity's website, and the traveldeparture date (as it would be necessary to have in hand a validpassport prior to the travel departure date).

The sending party may have access to an interaction database containinghistorical interaction records (consisting of, in this case, as anexample, records of processing times for successfully transmittingpassport applications to the government entity), and each such recordmay contain associated data or meta data, such as sending partylocation. In accordance with an exemplary aspect, historical interactiondata from related (e.g., related by the same sending party location inthis example) historical interaction records in the database (which maycomprise processing times for transmitting passport applications overthe Internet to the government entity from the sending party's town,city or state, for example) may be used to determine a predictedprocessing time for transmitting the passport application (e.g., thepredicted processing time may comprise the average of all of theprocessing times in the related historical interaction records). It maybe determined that passport applications transmitted from the sendingparty's location tend to take a day before successful receipt of theapplication by the government entity (perhaps due to a security measureat the government entity's network, the sending party locationcomprising an unreliable network infrastructure, or both, for example).As such, while the sending party may establish a settlement due datethat is 10 business days prior to the day before the travel departuredate, in this example a suggested action initiation time may bedetermined to be 10 business days, plus 1 additional day, prior to theday before the travel departure date, to increase the chances of thegovernment entity receiving the passport application by the required10-day lead time.

With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, system 100 includes a computingdevice 110 for determining a suggested action initiation time for aninteraction conducted over a network 120 between a user of computingdevice 110 and an interacting party 130. Computing device 110 maycomprise any device, apparatus, machine, computer, server, or network,such as a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, mobile device (e.g., amobile phone or smart phone), and the like, capable of executing digitalinstructions, such as software code or programing, and may comprisememory 200, communication module 210, a display 220, one or more inputdevices 230, and at least one processor 250 coupled to the memory 200,communication module 210, display 220, and input device(s) 230.

As used herein, “interacting party” may comprise a person, corporation,business, or other entity with which or with whom a user of computingdevice 110 has interacted (such as a retail store where the user carriedout a financial transaction using a credit card of the retailer), and acomputing device (as described herein) of such a person, corporation,business, or other entity, with which computing device 110 may interactover network 120. Communication module 210 enables computing device 110to communicate with one or more other components of system 100, such asone or more interacting parties 130, or one or more databases, such asinteraction database 112 and invoice database 114 (further described,below), via a wired or wireless connection, such as over network 120.Network 120 may comprise a direct link between communicating componentsof system 100, or an indirect one, including but not limited tocommunication by Ethernet™, Bluetooth™, WiFi™, NFC (near-fieldcommunication), infrared, WiMAX™ (fixed or mobile), RFID(radio-frequency identification), and any suitable cellularcommunications protocols including, but not limited to, up to 5Gprotocols, such as GSM, GPRS, EDGE, CDMA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, IMS, forexample, and any other communications protocols suitable for themethod(s), system(s) and device(s) described herein, including anyproprietary protocols. Network 120 may comprise a single network or morethan one interconnected network, of any type suitable for the method(s),system(s) and device(s) described herein, including but not limited towired or wireless PANs (personal area networks), LANs (local areanetworks), WANs (wide area networks), MANs (metropolitan area networks),mesh or ad hoc networks, VPNs (virtual private networks), the Internet,and any other suitable network type, in any suitable networkconfiguration or topology (e.g., mesh, token ring, tree, star, etc.).Although not shown in FIG. 1, system 100 may further include anycomponents necessary to effect the communication and/or network type(s)used, and may also include components for increased network security,for example, access points, routers, and firewalls.

As used herein, the term “memory”, or any variation thereof, maycomprise a tangible and non-transitory computer-readable medium (i.e., amedium which does not comprise only a transitory propagating signal perse) comprising or storing computer-executable instructions, such ascomputer programs, sets of instructions, code, software, and/or data forexecution of any method(s), step(s) or process(es) described herein byany processor(s) described herein, including processor(s) 250. As usedherein, the terms “processor”, “processors” or “processor(s)” may referto any combination of processors of the computing device 110,interacting party 130, and of any other component of system 100,suitable for carrying out method step(s) described herein. Memory maycomprise one or more of a local and/or remote hard disk or hard drive,of any type, ROM (read-only memory) and/or RAM (random-access memory),buffer(s), cache(s), flash memory, optical memory (e.g., CD(s) andDVD(s)), and any other form of volatile or non-volatile storage mediumin or on which information may be stored for any duration. Suchcomputer-executable instructions, when executed by processor(s)described herein, cause the processor(s) to perform any of the methodsdescribed herein, such as methods for determining suggested actioninitiation times for interactions conducted over network 120 withinteracting parties 130. It will be appreciated that the method stepsdescribed herein may be implemented in a variety of programminglanguages.

As used herein, the term “input device” or “input interface” (or anyvariation thereof or like term) may refer to any input device(s) ofcomputing device 110 (input device(s) 230) and/or input device(s) of anyother system component (not shown)). The input device(s) provide amechanism for a user of system 100 (such as a user of computing device110 or any other system component, as required to carry out methodstep(s) described herein), to provide input(s), such as during theexecution of computer programs stored in memory. Input device(s) mayinclude a touch-sensitive display, physical or virtual keyboard, keypad,mouse, microphone, trackpad, scroll wheel or ball, or other suitabledevice capable of receiving or detecting an input. Display 220 maycomprise any screen suitable for displaying visual information,including any suitable touch-sensitive display, such as a capacitive,resistive, infrared, surface acoustic wave (SAW) touch-sensitivedisplay, strain gauge, optical imaging, dispersive signal technology,acoustic pulse recognition, and so forth, as is known in the art. Insuch cases display 220 may also serve as an input device 230 ofcomputing device 110.

Furthermore, while in certain aspects a software application running oncomputing device(s) 110 (and/or on any other suitable component(s) ofsystem 100) may be executed by processor(s) to carry out method step(s)described herein, in other aspects, the software application running oncomputing device(s) 110 (or any other suitable component(s) of system100) may comprise a client instance of a software application running onone or more servers of system 100, such as a financial softwareapplication, hosted by a server of a financial institution (such as abank), running on a mobile device of a user for effecting interactionsor financial transactions with merchants (the interacting parties) overnetwork 120 (e.g., a banking “app”). It will be appreciated that methodstep(s) described herein may be carried out by processor(s) of thecomputing device (i.e., processor(s) 250) and/or of any other suitablecomponent of system 100, such as server(s) hosting software applications(such as a banking “app”) which may be accessible on computing device110 or via some other device.

System 100 may also include one or more interaction databases 112storing historical interaction record(s) associated with historicalinteractions. The interaction database (and any other database describedherein) may be accessible by communication module 210 of computingdevice 110 via network 120, or may be co-located with computing device110 such that it is directly accessible by computing device 110 by wiredor wireless connection, or computing device 110 may itself maintain thedatabase, or a copy thereof, in memory 200. The databases describedherein may comprise simple tables, text files, relational databasemanagement systems (RDBMS), XML databases, or any other suitable form ofdatabase, as would be known to the person of skill in the art. Thehistorical interaction records may pertain to only a user of computingdevice 110, or to multiple users. For example, in the example of afinancial interaction or transaction, computing device 110 may haveaccess, via a banking “app”, to an interaction database 112 storingtransaction or interaction records for all users or customers of thebank hosting the banking application.

Referring to FIG. 3, where a user of computing device 110 has engagedwith an interacting party (such as by using the interacting party'scredit card (in this case the interacting party may be, e.g., VISA®,Mastercard®, a retailer with an associated private-label retail creditcard, etc.) to purchase a product), in accordance with an exemplaryaspect of the present application, the instructions when executed byprocessor(s) (such as processor(s) 250) cause the processor(s) to carryout steps of method 300, to determine a suggested action initiation timefor an interaction conducted over network 120 (in the context of afinancial interaction or transaction, the interaction may comprise aninvoice payment) with the interacting party. The suggested actioninitiation time comprises a time by which an action (such as a digitalpayment over network 120) for settling the interaction with theinteracting party is suggested to be initiated to effect settlement ofthe interaction by the interaction settlement due date (e.g., a paymentdue date).

Method 300 comprises: determining 302 an interaction settlement due datefor an interaction with an interacting party (e.g., where theinteraction comprises a financial transaction, such as a bill payment,the interaction settlement due date may comprise a payment due date foran invoice amount associated with an invoice of the interacting party);and querying 304, over network 120, the interaction database 112 todetermine if a number of the historical interaction records related byone or more factors to the interacting party 130 is greater than orequal to one related historical interaction record.

Where there are no related historical interaction records, method 300exits 308. Where there is one or more related historical interactionrecord(s), the instructions when executed by processor(s) (such asprocessor(s) 250) cause the processor(s) to carry out further steps ofmethod 300, comprising: retrieving 310 from the interaction databasehistorical interaction data from the related historical interactionrecord(s); determining 312 from the retrieved historical interactiondata a predicted processing time for the interaction with theinteracting party; and determining 314, based on the interactionsettlement due date and the predicted processing time, the suggestedaction initiation time.

With reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 7, in accordance with another aspect,the instructions when executed by processor(s) (such as processor(s)250) may cause the processor(s) to carry out method 700, which continueson from method 300 at “E”. Method 700 comprises communicating 702 thesuggested action initiation time, such as to computing device 110 and/orto a user of computing device 110. The suggested action initiation timemay be communicated 702 by, e.g., a message displayed on display 220 ofcomputing device 110, or a message sent via communication module 210, orby a server hosting a software application (such as a banking “app”) oncomputing device 110, to a digital address of the user (e.g., SMS, MMS,instant message, email, a proprietary message type, etc.). It will beappreciated by the person skilled in the art that any suitable type ofmessage may be used. Further, the suggested action initiation time maybe communicated by updating an invoice for the interaction (where theinteraction is, e.g., a financial transaction with an associatedinvoice) with a suggested payment date. The suggested payment date maycomprise a date that corresponds to the suggested action initiationtime, and may be displayed (e.g. on the invoice itself, or on agraphical user interface associated with a banking “app” that displaysaspects of the invoice) in place of, or in addition to, the payment duedate of the invoice.

The historical interaction data may comprise data and/or meta datacomprising, for each of the historical interaction records, e.g., atleast one of a unique interacting party ID, processing time, asettlement mechanism (e.g., payment type), payment amount, time of dayof payment, time of year (i.e. date) of payment, interacting partylocation, and location of computing device 100 (e.g., a paying partylocation). The historical interaction data may further comprise anyother information or data that could potentially affect the time itwould take for an action (such as a payment) to be received by aninteracting party.

“Processing time”, as used herein, refers to the time taken from theinitiation of an action to settle an interaction (such as submitting anonline bill payment) to the time that the interacting party receives theaction (e.g., payment) for the purposes of establishing an actionreceipt date (e.g., a payment receipt date). The action receipt datemay, in some cases, be a date that the computing device 110 receivesfrom the interacting party 130 a digital message acknowledging receiptof the action. It will be appreciated that even where receipt of thedigital acknowledgement message by the computing device is delayed, soas to suggest a longer processing time than the actual time taken forthe interacting party to receive the action (e.g., payment), such wouldresult in processing time data in the historical interaction data thatis longer, and not shorter, than the actual processing time, and so anysuggested action initiation time based on such information would nottend to be erroneously shorter than required by reason alone of theinaccuracy in the processing time data. The skilled person wouldunderstand that a suggested action initiation time that is longer thanrequired would still aid, for example, in making timely bill payments soas to avoid late payment fees.

As described above, in the context of a financial interaction (e.g., afinancial transaction), such as a credit card invoice payment to VISA®,computing device 110 of the user may have access, via a banking “app”,to interaction database 112, and the interaction database may containtransaction or interaction records for all users or customers of thebank hosting the banking application. The factor(s) relating thehistorical interaction records in interaction database 112 to theinteracting party may include, e.g., a unique interacting party ID. Forexample, VISA® may be assigned the unique ID of “23354” in interactiondatabase 112. In this example, at step 304, when interaction database112 is queried to determine a number of the historical interactionrecords related by one or more factors (here, the unique interactingparty ID of 23354) to the interacting party, VISA®, it may be determinedthat there are none (i.e. no records of prior payments to VISA®), one,or some other number. For example, if there is one historicalinteraction record related to VISA®, then the predicted processing timemay be based on the historical interaction data retrieved from only oneprior record (i.e., the predicted processing time for VISA® to receivean online payment may be determined on the basis of only one priorrecord's data or historical interaction data).

With reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, in another exemplary aspect, method300 may proceed to method 400 at “G”, such that after it is determined304 that there is at least one historical interaction record in theinteraction database 112 related to the interacting party 130 by one ormore factors, it is determined 402 if the number of related historicalinteraction records equals or exceeds a threshold number. Where thenumber of related historical interaction records is below the thresholdnumber, method 400 exits 404. Where the number of related historicalinteraction records equals or exceeds the threshold number, method 400may proceed to method 300 at “H”, to continue on to step 310. Thethreshold number may be configured, or pre-programed, with any integervalue (including, e.g., “1”), and further, may have a default value,such as, e.g., 10, 50, 100, or 10,000. It will be appreciated that thegreater the number of historical interaction records in interactiondatabase 112 that are related to the interacting party by one or morefactors (such as the interacting party ID), the greater the statisticalconfidence, or confidence interval, which may be had in the predictedprocessing time and the suggested action initiation time. As such, it isexpected that a higher threshold number may yield more accuratesuggested action initiation times for effecting actions (such aspayments) by settlement due dates (such as invoice payment due dates).

Greater confidence in the predicted processing time and the suggestedaction initiation time may also be obtained by basing the step ofdetermining 312 the predicted processing time on the historicalinteraction data of historical interaction records that are related tothe interacting party by multiple factors (e.g., the unique interactingparty ID, settlement mechanism (e.g., payment type), payment amount,time of day of payment, time of year (i.e. date) of payment, interactingparty location, location of computing device 110 (e.g., a paying partylocation), etc.). For example, in the case of a financial transactioninteraction with a payment due date within the month of December,historical interaction records also from the month of December (orwithin a configurable date range of the payment due date, e.g., +/−5days) may reflect more accurate processing times in North America, e.g.,where the month of December may have an associated increase in volume infinancial transactions which, in turn, may result in generally slowerprocessing times. It will be further appreciated that at step 304, wheninteraction database 112 is queried to determine if a number of thehistorical interaction records related by one or more factors to theinteracting party is greater than or equal to one historical interactionrecord, the one or more factors for defining such relationship would notinclude the processing times for the historical interaction records;other factors, as noted above, may be correlated to define therelationship between the interacting party and the historicalinteraction records, while the processing time data for each of thoserelated historical interaction records is retrieved (potentially withother historical interaction data) at step 310 of method 300 todetermine 312 the predicted processing time based on those relatedrecords.

For example, in an exemplary aspect, at step 310, the historicalinteraction data retrieved from the related historical interactionrecords may comprise the processing times of each of the relatedhistorical interaction records. The instructions when executed byprocessor(s) (such as processor(s) 250) may cause the processor(s) tocarry out any function on the retrieved data to determine therefrom thepredicted processing time. For example, the retrieved processing timesmay be averaged to yield the predicted processing time. As anotherexample, the longest retrieved processing time may be established as thepredicted processing time. The manner in which the retrieved historicalinteraction data is processed to yield the predicted processing time maybe configurable, and it may also be configurable whether more than onepredicted processing time is determined (and whether more than onesuggested action initiation time is determined and ultimately,communicated 702 to computing device 110 and/or to a user of computeddevice 110). Any configurable settings described herein may beconfigured, e.g., through a graphical user interface (GUI) of anapplication (e.g., a banking “app”) running on a user's computing device110, where configuration changes may be made, e.g., by an input device230, such as a touch input on a touch screen, of computing device 110,or by input to an access terminal or computer for accessing a GUI of thesoftware application by some means other than the GUI on computingdevice 110 (such as a web portal that allows a user to access his or heraccount for the software application from any computer having aconnection to network 120).

In another exemplary aspect, at step 310, the historical interactiondata retrieved from the related historical interaction records maycomprise the processing times and the settlement mechanisms of each ofthe related historical interaction records. The settlement mechanismsmay comprise—in the context of historical interaction records thatrepresent financial transactions—payment types. A payment type maycomprise, e.g., at least one of direct money transfer, email moneytransfer, money order, wire transfer, cash, check, payment via a thirdparty payment network 140 (such as Interac° or a credit card paymentnetwork (e.g., VISA®, Mastercard®, American Express®, Discover®, etc.)),and/or any other form or manner of payment, as would be known to theskilled person. For example, the retrieved processing times may begrouped by payment types, with an average (or, e.g., longest) processingtime determined per payment type group (e.g., it may be determined thatthe average processing time for Interac payments is 10 seconds, theaverage processing time for domestic wire transfer is 1 business day,and the average processing time for international wire transfer is 5business days). In a further exemplary aspect, with reference to FIG. 7,in such a scenario, the suggested action initiation time may becommunicated 702 by updating an invoice for the interaction (where theinteraction is, e.g., a financial transaction with an associatedinvoice) with multiple suggested payment dates, one for each settlementmechanism or payment type. For example, the amended invoice may indicatea payment due date of Sep. 21, 2017, and further indicate a suggestedpayment date of Sep. 21, 2017 if paying by Interac® (perhaps by acertain time, e.g., 11 pm, to help ensure payment is effected on Sep.21, 2017 and not Sep. 22, 2017, and the instructions when executed mayimpose such a time-of-day restriction (which may be configurable orpre-programmed) in any scenario, including in any of the scenariosdescribed herein), Sep. 20, 2017 if paying by domestic money transfer,and Sep. 15, 2017 if paying by international wire transfer (accountingfor the weekend that falls within the 5-business day range).

Further still, where the historical interaction data retrieved from therelated historical interaction records also comprises the interactingparty location, the instructions when executed by processor(s) (such asprocessor(s) 250) may cause the processor(s) to determine (such as byuse of GPS) the paying party location, and accordingly determine if thepayment would be an international one. If it is determined that thepayment would be an international payment, the suggested payment datefor domestic wire transfer may, e.g., be omitted. If the retrievedhistorical interaction data further comprises paying party locations, itwould be expected that further accuracy in the predicted processing timemay be achieved by retrieving historical interaction records where thepayments were from paying parties in the same location as that ofcomputing device 110, to interacting party locations that are the sameas the location of the interacting party 130 for the interaction.

In the case of a financial transaction interaction for which there is anassociated invoice, computing device 110 may, using communication module210, query invoice database 114 (either over network 120 or by directconnection, or, alternatively, invoice database 114 (and any otherdatabase described herein), or a copy thereof, may be collocated withcomputing device 110 and/or stored in memory 200 of computing device110) to retrieve an invoice for the user of computing device 110, and/orrelevant information therefrom. In a further example, the historicalinteraction data retrieved from the related historical interactionrecords may comprise, or further comprise, payment amounts for each ofthe historical interaction records. Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 5,method 300 may proceed to method 500 at “A”. The instructions whenexecuted by processor(s) (such as processor(s) 250) may cause theprocessor(s) to determine 502, from the invoice, the invoice amount.Further relevant information may also be determined from the invoice,such as the interacting party, the interaction settlement due date(e.g., payment due date), as shown at step 302 of method 300, and/or anyother relevant information which may be determined from the invoice.After step 502, method 500 may proceed to method 300 at “B”. In thisscenario, the step of determining 312 the predicted processing time maybe further based on the invoice amount determined at step 502. Forexample, the instructions may further cause the processor(s) todetermine all of the historical interaction record(s) related to theinteracting party having payment amounts that match, or are within apre-defined or configurable margin (e.g., +/−%5, or +/−$100) of theinvoice amount, and to average the processing times of those records,determine the longest processing time from amongst those records, orperform some other calculation or derive some other metric from thoserecords. It will be appreciated that method 500 may also be consideredto proceed to method 300 at, e.g., step 304 (where the historicalinteraction records queried are related to the interacting party 130 byat least the payment amounts and their correlation to the invoiceamount, as described above), and further, that the placement or orderingof the letter references A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H in the drawings areto demonstrate particular examples only, and that other placements ororderings of such letter references may be possible.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 6, method 300 may proceed to method 600 at“C”. In an exemplary aspect, where the historical interaction dataretrieved from the historical interaction records related to theinteracting party also comprise the interacting party location, theinstructions when executed by the processor(s) (such as processor(s)250) may cause the processor(s) to determine 602, e.g., based on theinteracting party location or other information, a buffer timeaccounting for unpredictability in processing time associated with theinteracting party location or other information. Locations havingassociated buffer times, and the values of those buffer times, may bedetermined by a list of locations (of any degree of granularity, e.g.,from particular addresses to entire countries or territories) andrelated buffer times, which may be pre-programed or configurable into adatabase accessible by computing device 110, such as a database storedin memory 200, or a database associated with a server hosting thesoftware application (e.g., a banking “app”) running on computing device110, or some other database accessible over network 120. Alternatively,whether an interacting party location should have an associated buffertime, and the value assigned to that buffer time, may be determined bythe processor(s) in real-time, e.g., when the historical interactiondata is retrieved 310 from the historical interaction records related tothe interacting party 130. For example, the processor(s) may determine,from the historical interaction data (or, alternatively or additionally,such information may be pre-programmed or preconfigured), that certainlocations do not tend to have generally consistent processing times.This may be due, e.g., to unreliability in the network infrastructureassociated with a location, or for some other reason. After step 602,method 600 may proceed to method 300 at “D” for step 314. With referenceto FIG. 3, where buffer time(s) are determined 602 (including where theyare pre-established), the step of determining 314 the suggested actioninitiation time may be further based on the buffer time. For example,the instructions when executed may cause the processor(s) to average theprocessing times for all of the retrieved historical interaction recordsrelated to the interacting party, and determine at that time that theinteracting party location does not tend to have generally consistentprocessing times associated with it and accordingly, generate anassociated buffer time, or, may cross-reference a database to determineif the interacting party location has a pre-established buffer time. Theinstructions may then cause the processor(s) to determine 314 thesuggested action initiation time based both on the predicted processingtime and the buffer time. For example, where an invoice has a paymentdue date of Sep. 21, 2017, and the predicted processing time isdetermined to be 1 day while the buffer is determined to be or ispre-established as 2 days, then the suggested action initiation time(and the suggested payment date) would be 3 days prior to the paymentdue date, or Sep. 18, 2017.

It will be appreciated that generally inconsistent processing times maybe associated with or based on attributes in the historical interactiondata other than the interacting party location, and further, that buffertimes may be established or determined 602 simply on the basis ofgenerally inconsistent processing times, irrespective of the interactingparty location. Further, the computing device location (e.g., payingparty location), as determined by, e.g., GPS, may be pre-established ina database as a location with an associated buffer time or, based on theretrieved historical interaction data, it may be determined thatprocessing times associated with the paying party's location aregenerally inconsistent (based on inconsistent processing times seen inrecords involving that location, whether it is the location of thepaying party or of the interacting party). In such a scenario also, thebuffer time may be added at step 314. The extent of variation in theprocessing times required to trigger a determination that the processingtimes are generally inconsistent, such that a buffer time is required,may be a configurable setting or pre-programmed.

It will be appreciated that various other ways to manipulate thehistorical interaction data to determine 312 a predicted processing timemay exist, and only a few examples of such have been presented above.Further, the instructions when executed may utilize a regressionanalysis to determine the predicted processing time, and it is expectedthat the use of artificial intelligence and/or machine learning (such asdecision trees, multinomial logit models, Naïve Bayes algorithms, etc.)to make the determination at step 312 may tend to increase the accuracyin the predicted processing time determined.

In a further aspect, and with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, method 700may proceed to method 800 at “F”. In accordance with this exemplaryaspect, in the example of a financial transaction interaction, theinstructions when executed by processor(s) (including processor(s) 250)may cause the processor(s) to present 802 (on any interface throughwhich, e.g., a software application (such as a banking “app”) forcarrying out method step(s) described herein is accessible (such as ondisplay 220 of computing device 110 on which the banking “app” isaccessible)), options (which may be selectable options) for preparing apayment of, e.g., the invoice amount, or perhaps another amount whichmay be entered or selected by a user of computing device 110, on apayment date that comprises at least the payment due date or thesuggested payment date. In a further aspect, an alternative date to thepayment due date and the suggested payment date may also be entered orselected by the user as the payment date, or the user may choose not topay any amount at all. In this example, the instructions when executedby processor(s) (including processor(s) 250) may cause the processor(s)to determine 804 when the current date is the payment date, and on thepayment date, effect payment 806 (such as by messaging and/orauthorizing a financial server hosting the banking “app” to pay theamount chosen or entered (such as the invoice amount) to the interactingparty 130).

While the foregoing has been described in some detail for purposes ofclarity and understanding, it will be appreciated by those skilled inthe relevant arts, once they have been made familiar with thisdisclosure, that various changes in form and detail can be made withoutdeparting from the true scope of the appended claims. The presentapplication is therefore not to be limited to the specific examples, orthe exact components or details of methodology or construction, setforth above. Except to the extent necessary or inherent in the processesthemselves, no particular order to steps or stages of methods orprocesses described in this disclosure, including in the Figures, isintended or implied, including with respect to the letter references A,B, C, D, E, F, G, and H shown in the Figures. In many cases, the orderof process or method steps, as well as of the above-noted letterreferences, may be varied, and/or made sequential or parallel, withoutchanging the purpose, effect, or import of the method(s) described.

1. A computing device for determining a suggested action initiation timefor an interaction conducted over a network, the computing devicecomprising: a memory storing computer-executable instructions; acommunication module for communication with an interaction database andone or more interacting parties via the network, the interactiondatabase storing historical interaction record(s) associated withhistorical interactions; and at least one processor coupled to thememory and the communication module, the instructions when executed bythe at least one processor causing the at least one processor to:determine an interaction settlement due date for an interaction with oneof said interacting parties; query, over the network, the interactiondatabase to determine if a number of the historical interaction recordsrelated by one or more factors to the interacting party equals orexceeds one historical interaction record, and where the number ofrelated historical interaction records equals or exceeds said onehistorical interaction record: retrieve from the interaction databasehistorical interaction data from the related historical interactionrecord(s); determine from the retrieved historical interaction data apredicted processing time for the interaction with the interactingparty; and determine, based on the interaction settlement due date andthe predicted processing time, the suggested action initiation time;wherein the suggested action initiation time comprises a time by whichan action for settling the interaction with the interacting party issuggested to be initiated to effect settlement of the interaction by theinteraction settlement due date.
 2. The computing device of claim 1wherein the interaction comprises a financial transaction and theinteraction settlement due date comprises a payment due date for aninvoice amount associated with an invoice of the interacting party. 3.The computing device of claim 2 wherein the historical interaction datacomprises, for each of the historical interaction records, at least oneof: a unique interacting party ID, processing time, payment amount, timeof day of payment, date of payment, interacting party location, payingparty location, and a settlement mechanism.
 4. The computing device ofclaim 3 wherein the one or more factors relating the historicalinteraction records to the interacting party include the uniqueinteracting party ID.
 5. The computing device of claim 3 wherein thesettlement mechanism comprises a payment type, the payment typecomprising at least one of: direct money transfer, email money transfer,money order, wire transfer, cash, check, and payment via a third partypayment network.
 6. The computing device of claim 3 wherein thehistorical interaction data includes the payment amounts for each of thehistorical interaction records, wherein the instructions when executedby the at least one processor further cause the at least one processorto determine, from the invoice, the invoice amount, and wherein the stepof determining the predicted processing time is further based on theinvoice amount.
 7. The computing device of claim 3 wherein thehistorical interaction data includes the interacting party location,wherein the instructions when executed by the at least one processorfurther cause the at least one processor to determine, based on theinteracting party location, a buffer time accounting forunpredictability in processing time associated with the interactingparty location, and wherein the step of determining the suggested actioninitiation time is further based on the buffer time.
 8. The computingdevice of claim 2 wherein the instructions when executed by the at leastone processor further cause the at least one processor to communicate tothe computing device the suggested action initiation time.
 9. Thecomputing device of claim 8 wherein the processor communicates thesuggested action initiation time by updating the invoice for theinteraction with a suggested payment date that comprises a datecorresponding to the suggested action initiation time, the instructionswhen executed by the at least one processor further causing the at leastone processor to present options for preparing a payment on a paymentdate, the payment date comprising at least the payment due date or thesuggested payment date.
 10. The computing device of claim 2 wherein theinstructions when executed by the at least one processor further causethe at least one processor to determine if the number of relatedhistorical interaction record(s) equals or exceeds a threshold number,and wherein the historical interaction data from the related historicalinteraction record(s) is retrieved from the interaction database if thenumber of related historical interaction records equals or exceeds thethreshold number.
 11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium fordetermining a suggested action initiation time for an interactionconducted over a network, the computer-readable medium comprisingcomputer-executable instructions for: determining an interactionsettlement due date for an interaction with an interacting party;querying, over the network, an interaction database storing historicalinteraction record(s) associated with historical interactions, todetermine if a number of the historical interaction records related byone or more factors to the interacting party equals or exceeds onehistorical interaction record, and where the number of relatedhistorical interaction records equals or exceeds said one historicalinteraction record, the computer-executable instructions further for:retrieving from the interaction database historical interaction datafrom the related historical interaction record(s); determining from theretrieved historical interaction data a predicted processing time forthe interaction with the interacting party; and determining, based onthe interaction settlement due date and the predicted processing time,the suggested action initiation time; wherein the suggested actioninitiation time comprises a time by which an action for settling theinteraction with the interacting party is suggested to be initiated toeffect settlement of the interaction by the interaction settlement duedate.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11wherein the interaction comprises a financial transaction and theinteraction settlement due date comprises a payment due date for aninvoice amount associated with an invoice of the interacting party. 13.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein thehistorical interaction data comprises, for each of the historicalinteraction records, at least one of: a unique interacting party ID,processing time, payment amount, time of day of payment, date ofpayment, interacting party location, paying party location, and asettlement mechanism.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 13 wherein the settlement mechanism comprises a payment type, thepayment type comprising at least one of: direct money transfer, emailmoney transfer, money order, wire transfer, cash, check, and payment viaa third party payment network.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 12, the computer-executable instructions further forcommunicating to a computing device the suggested action initiationtime.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, thecomputer-executable instructions further for: communicating to thecomputing device the suggested action initiation time by updating theinvoice for the interaction with a suggested payment date that comprisesa date corresponding to the suggested action initiation time; andpresenting options for preparing a payment on a payment date, thepayment date comprising at least the payment due date or the suggestedpayment date.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim12, the computer-executable instructions further for determining if thenumber of related historical interaction record(s) equals or exceeds athreshold number, wherein the historical interaction data from therelated historical interaction record(s) is retrieved from theinteraction database if the number of related historical interactionrecord(s) equals or exceeds the threshold number.
 18. A method fordetermining a suggested action initiation time for an interactionconducted over a network by a computing device, the computing devicecomprising at least one processor coupled to a memory and acommunication module, the method comprising: determining an interactionsettlement due date for an interaction with an interacting party;querying, over the network, an interaction database storing historicalinteraction records associated with historical interactions, todetermine if a number of the historical interaction records related byone or more factors to the interacting party equals or exceeds onehistorical interaction record, and where the number of relatedhistorical interaction records equals or exceeds said one historicalinteraction record, the method further comprising: retrieving from theinteraction database historical interaction data from the relatedhistorical interaction record(s); determining from the retrievedhistorical interaction data a predicted processing time for theinteraction with the interacting party; and determining, based on theinteraction settlement due date and the predicted processing time, thesuggested action initiation time; wherein the suggested actioninitiation time comprises a time by which an action for settling theinteraction with the interacting party is suggested to be initiated toeffect settlement of the interaction by the interaction settlement duedate.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein the interaction comprises afinancial transaction and the interaction settlement due date comprisesa payment due date for an invoice amount associated with an invoice ofthe interacting party.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the historicalinteraction data comprises, for each of the historical interactionrecords, at least one of: a unique interacting party ID, processingtime, payment amount, time of day of payment, date of payment,interacting party location, paying party location, and a settlementmechanism.
 21. The method of claim 20 wherein the settlement mechanismcomprises a payment type, the payment type comprising at least one of:direct money transfer, email money transfer, money order, wire transfer,cash, check, and payment via a third party payment network.
 22. Themethod of claim 19 further comprising: updating the invoice for theinteraction with a suggested payment date that comprises a datecorresponding to the suggested action initiation time; and presentingoptions for preparing a payment on a payment date, the payment datecomprising at least the payment due date or the suggested payment date.23. The method of claim 19 further comprising determining if the numberof related historical interaction record(s) equals or exceeds athreshold number, wherein the historical interaction data from therelated historical interaction record(s) is retrieved from theinteraction database if the number of related historical interactionrecord(s) equals or exceeds the threshold number.